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Sunday, 7 April 2013

My Precious {April Edition}

I'm finding Sian's theme for this year's Storytelling Sundays really interesting to ponder. As I evaluate my possessions, by either mentally or actually wandering around my house, I'm interested to discover that although I have a LOT of 'stuff', there's very little that would be irreplacable - there's plenty that I'd be sad to lose, sure, but not so very many things that I'd be entirely heartbroken about. I'm not sure if I'm pleased that material items don't matter so very much, or embarrassed that I've managed to accumulate so many of them anyway! And, of course, I wouldn't want to be put to the test....

But perhaps that's the reason I've already started to interpret this in a slightly different way; my choices so far have been representative of areas of my life that are important to me. My engagement ring is special, of course, but being unable to wear it doesn't detract in the slightest from my relationship with The Doctor - it's the relationship that's truly precious. I'd be pretty gutted if anything happened to my camera, particularly if there were photos still on its memory card, but cameras can be replaced and being unable to take photos at all would be what would really hurt. (And even then, there are other ways of recording memories!) My Bible, too, though I've had it for a long time, is far from being the only copy of a Bible in the world - in our house even - and the faith it represents is what's really precious here.

This mental shift made me look at my possessions in a new light, and with the thought of what was actually precious to me in my life - not necessarily physical things at all. And so, here is my choice for April:

There's a shelf of the wall unit in our dining room which holds 2 little hedgehog ornaments, an old pair of binoculars (a charity shop find that I couldn't resist), something I made during my ArtsyCrafts workshop (2 years ago now, gosh!) and three Willow Tree ornaments. The one in the centre was given to me by The Doctor on our wedding anniversary a few years ago; those to either side, showing a mother and her son and a mother and her daughter, were given to me by The Children for Mothering Sunday and birthday gifts. I love these ornaments - there are others in the range that I really love, too, such as those representing friendship or reading, but I have a self-imposed rule that they should be given to me by an appropriate person - as above - rather than bought by me...

(I don't know why, now I come to think about it. Oh, well....)

Anyway, this long post and this photo could really be summed up in two words. When I think about what is most precious to me, there's an obvious and definite answer. My April precious? My children, of course :)

They are lovely! My Mum has a friend with a collection of Willow Tree and she has bought a couple of pieces as Christmas gifts for her.

I think it's a good thing not to have too many things which you would consider irreplaceable. People, not things, eh? Maybe another way of thinking about it too is that it's the memory evoked by the thing which is precious, not the thing itself - I haven't seen that typewriter in years, for example, but I think about my dad hauling himself into the loft every time I let down our ladder

These are beautiful and so precious for what they represent. One of my close friends has a willow tree ornament in the shape of an angel she was given when she was ill. It holds a lot of meaning for her too.

I'm not really an ornament person, but these are just lovely. I like your take on the theme. I've been struggling with it a bit, not having many of the 'things' that belong to the precious memories.Fiona x

I've seen these but never knew the name - your's are gorgeous. Your self imposed rule is similar to mine for troll beads, they have to have meaning or be bought by someone else. No idea why. I liked your thinking - yes it is the relationships and memories that are the important thing rather than the physical items. Which is how it should be me thinks.

I think we must be on the same wave length this month. I was thinking about precious things not being actual physical things too. My willow tree ornament is angel's embrace - bought for me by a friend who I have sadly lost contact with.

I am the same as you and it's quite hard for me to find things that are so precious, it's normally the story behind them that is more precious which is why you don't buy those ornaments for yourself :) x

I love that your Precious things are actually representative of the more important things in your life. I think if we look at everyone's stories, we'd find there is almost always a relationship or a memory behind the "thing" that is more important than the thing itself.

Over and over as I've read this month's stories it has occurred to me that it's the memories that the objects evoke that are the truly precious things. Telling the stories, however, gets them "out in the world," much like scrapbooking does.

Yes the things we are choosing are 'just things' but it's the back stories that are truly precious. I see the things as a vehicle to attach the story to. You have given me inspiration for something Mel, thanks x Oh and the willow figure are so pretty I love the soft way they are posed.

Hi Mel,I'm late to getting around this month, but I so love everyone's stories that I keep at it. I love yours - it has such a great insight to the idea of "precious" and the objects themselves are gorgeous. I have a Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus set from the same company.Rinda

...is what I speak. It describes what I actually say (nonsense, mostly) and how I say it (ie my accent, which is a mixture of all sorts - a bit of North of England, a bit of Irish, a bit of South West England, a lot of just me!) The word comes from my name, Mel, and the fact that I'm one-quarter Welsh. But there's not actually any Welsh in my accent. Go figure...